Patient care system with conditional alarm forwarding

ABSTRACT

A patient care system is disclosed that includes a medical device such as an infusion pump. The medical device generates a data message containing information such as the status of the therapy being delivered, operating data or both. An alarm generating system assesses the data message from the pump and generates an alarm message if certain conditions established by a first set of rules are met. The alarm message is assessed according to a second set of rules as to whether to suppress the alarm message. The data message contains a required input for both the first and second algorithms. A dispatching system is adapted to forward the alarm message to an alarm destination according to a third set of rules. The alarm destination expresses an alarm upon receipt of the alarm message.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Modern medical care often involves the use of medication managementsystems that include medication delivery and monitoring devices such asmedication delivery pumps or patient parameter monitors or both,Medication management systems for configuring, controlling andmonitoring medication delivery devices have been disclosed. For example,commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,895,053 titled “MEDICATION MANAGEMENTSYSTEM” that issued on Feb. 22, 2011 and U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/783,573 titled “MEDICATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM” that published asUS20050278194A1 on Dec. 15, 2005 disclose a medication management systemwherein user customizable drug library or medical device configurationinformation is prepared using a drug library editor (DLE) program andmodule of a medication management unit (MMU). Hospira MedNet™ Meds™software available from Hospira, Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill., U.S.A.includes such a DLE program. The MMU, which is equipped with HospiraMedNet™ Server software, downloads the customizable drug library to themedication delivery pump and receives status or activity informationfrom the pump. Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 8,065,161 titled “SYSTEM FORMAINTAINING DRUG INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATING WITH MEDICATION DELIVERYDEVICES” that issued on Nov. 22, 2011 discloses how the drug library ormedical device configuration information is created, edited, stored andcommunicated to a medication delivery device in the context of amedication management system to deliver substances, such as fluids orfluid medication or both to patients.

According to the above-mentioned commonly owned published patentapplications, a typical medication management system includes a point ofcare computer, such as a barcode point of care computer and/or pharmacycomputer, and/or an MMU, in communication with one or more medicationdelivery devices. The point of care computer(s) and/or the MMU, withassociated memory, store and share or communicate various information,such as patient information, prescription information, customized druglibrary or other information, for managing medication delivery to apatients, such as performing five-rights checking, configuring themedication delivery devices, and receiving and storing event, status oractivity information received from the medication delivery devices.

Caregivers and clinicians use outputs from patient monitoring andequipment monitoring devices to make various patient care decisions.Patient monitoring devices and patient care equipment monitoring devicesmay be connected to a receiver, which receives the output signals fromthe patient monitoring devices and patient care equipment monitoringdevices. In some cases, the receivers may display and/or record theinformation from the patient and patient care equipment monitoringdevices. In other cases, the devices may include a monitor and/orrecording medium. The receivers or devices may also have preset oradjustable alarms that are triggered when one of the outputs from thepatient or patient care equipment monitoring devices deviates from apre-set limit.

In hospitals that use infusion pumps and other medical devices, alarmsare used to indicate device malfunction, therapy interruptions, end oftherapy and other events that need to be handled by the clinical staff.Typically, alarms get displayed on device screens and produce audiblesound. In some cases, there are too many devices that alarm in closeproximity to each other. As a result, it is very hard to tell whichdevice is actually alarming. The sound of alarms can also disturb orwake up sleeping patients. Hospital nurses usually manage multipleinfusions running on multiple patients in one or more given clinicalcare areas. It is difficult for a nurse to be in the same vicinity ofthe infusion device at all times during an infusion, thus making itdifficult to respond immediately to infusion-related or infusion devicealarms. Further, clinical staff is not always in the close proximity tothe alarming device to hear the alarm. In such situations it would bedesirable for the staff to be notified of device alarms as soon aspossible regardless of their proximity to the device so that they canbetter attend to their patients' needs.

Further, in some patient cases, it is critical to isolate the patientand reduce the exposure of the patient to unnecessary hospitalconditions (e.g. burn patient being exposed to drafts or airbornecontaminants when opening the door to the patient room). Further,multiple nurses may utilize the same pump on a patient between devicecleaning. This results in an increase possibility of contamination dueto an increased number of clinicians contacting the device. The pump maybe contaminated by a clinician. This contamination may be transferred tothe patient either by the clinician that first contaminated the pump orby a subsequent clinician who acquires the contamination by contactingthe pump and then who transfers the contamination to the patient in thecourse of providing care to the patient. Further, contamination appliedto a pump may be transferred to other devices and patients by clinicianswho come in contact with the contamination on the pump and carry it withthem to other pumps and patients where the contamination can bedeposited and spread. Where alarms require a clinician to actually cometo and contact a pump in order to assess the alarm, shut the alarm offor otherwise respond to the alarm, the likelihood of such contaminationand cross-contamination increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A patient care system is disclosed that, in a preferred embodiment,includes at least one medical device such as an infusion pump. Each pumpis capable of generating a data message containing information regardingthe pump including the status of the therapy being delivered, operatingdata or both. The patient care system includes an alarm generatingsystem that received the data message from the pump. The alarmgenerating system assesses the data message from the pump and fires atrigger if certain conditions established by a first set of rules,algorithms or instructions are met. The firing of a trigger produces analarm message. This alarm message is assessed according to a second setof rules, algorithms or instructions as to whether to suppress the alarmmessage. For both the first and second algorithms, information generatedby each pump is a required input.

The patient care system also includes a dispatching system that isconnected to the alarm generating system. The dispatching system isadapted to forward the alarm message to an alarm destination accordingto a third set of rules, algorithms or instructions. Further, thepatient care system includes an alarm destination connected to thedispatching system, the alarm destination expressing an alarm uponreceipt by the alarm destination of the alarm.

In an alternate embodiment of the patient care system, the medicaldevice is not part of the patient care system. Instead, the patient caresystem as disclosed interacts with the medical device. In anotheralternate embodiment of the patient care system, the alarm destinationis not part of the patient care system but instead interacts with thepatient care system. In yet another alternate embodiment of the patientcare system, both the medical device and alarm destination are not partof the patient care system but instead interact with the patient caresystem. In yet another embodiment of the patient care system, bothincluding and excluding the medical device and alarm destination orboth, the alarm generating system and the dispatching system arecombined into a single system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of the architecture of one embodiment of apatient care system.

FIG. 2 is a data flow chart of one embodiment of a patient care system.

FIG. 3 is a chart showing the flow of information between variouspersonnel and components of the patient care system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of one embodiment of the patient care system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a chart of one embodiment of patient care system showing theprocess of configuring a pump from a monitor/controlling system.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of one embodiment of patient care system showingthe alarm forwarding and acknowledgment functions.

FIG. 7 is a chart of one embodiment of the patient care system showingthe process of changing the pump infusion program with amonitor/controlling system.

FIG. 8 is a chart of one embodiment of the patient care system showingthe process of transferring oversight of one or more pumps from onemonitor/controller system to another monitor/controlling system.

FIG. 9 is a chart of one embodiment of the patient care system showingthe process of monitoring the infusion by a pump with amonitor/controlling system.

FIG. 10 is a top view of one embodiment of a monitor/controlling systemuser interface design in various states during operation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the Figures, a patient care system is shown in the Figuresgenerally referred to by the reference number 10. The patient caresystem 10 interacts with a medical device 12 to manage alarms producedby the medical device 12. The patient care system 10 includes adispatching system 14, an alarm forwarding system 16 and, in certainembodiments, a monitor/controlling system 18.

The patient care system 10 is intended to be deployed in any hospital orother facility that utilizes medical devices 12, including but notlimited to infusion pumps, that are connected to networks either viahardwiring or through wireless connections. Such networks may bespecific to the connection of one or more pumps 12 to each other or tocontrol or monitoring devices. The networks may connect many medicaldevices and allow control or monitoring of a variety of such devicesincluding control or monitoring from and to remote locations.

Medical device 12 is preferably an infusion pump 12 capable of receivingprogramming data from a nurse or other practitioner. Further, pump 12 ispreferably capable of having its operational infusion program reviewedor confirmed or both by the nurse or other practitioner. Examples ofpump 12 are the PLUM A+™ infusion system, LIFECARE PCA™ infusion systemand SAPPHIRE™ infusion system sold by Hospira, Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill.Although medical device 12 is preferably an infusion pump 12, pump 12 asapplied to the present patient care system 10 is intended to beunderstood to be any medical pump and more broadly, any medical devicethat has the capability of producing data and being connectable to adispatching system 14 as described herein. Each pump 12 or other medicaldevice is capable of generating a data message containing informationregarding the pump including the status of the therapy being delivered,operating data or both. Examples of the data message generated by thepump 12 include, but are not limited to, pump 12 status data, the statusof the therapy being delivered by the pump 12, event data associatedwith the pump 12 (e.g., expiration of certain time periods) and alarmsassociated with pump 12 or the delivery of therapy by the pump 12.Further, in some embodiments, pump 12 includes a local delay timer 50.The local delay timer may be a mechanical timer or a timer implementedin software. The local delay timer 50 is activated and begins countingwhen an alarm condition message is sent by the pump 12 to thedispatching system 14. In other embodiments of pump 12, pump 12 includeslogic 52 that can be either discrete or implemented through software.Logic 52 allows pump 12 to make evaluations or take actions according toprogramming including rules, algorithms or instructions implemented onor associated with the logic 52 and may, in certain embodiments, alsoprovide the local delay timer 50.

Dispatching system 14 is preferably a network application that managesalarms and preferably includes a dispatching server 20 capable ofrunning software. A key function of the dispatching system 14 is tofacilitate alarm management from the pump 12 to one of more alarmdestinations (e.g., monitor/controlling systems 18) and back. Forexample, in a preferred embodiment, the dispatching system 14 is adaptedto forward the alarm messages from the pump 12 to one or moremonitor/controlling systems 18 according to a set of rules, algorithmsor instructions. In a preferred embodiment of the patient care system10, these rules, algorithms or instructions are executed on the alarmforwarding system 16 which, in effect, orchestrates the alarm flow fromthe pump 12 to one or more monitor/controlling systems 18 and back inorder to implement safe, secure and reliable alarm handling. In avariant of this embodiment, rules, algorithms or instructions may beimplemented on the pump 12 itself. The rules, algorithms or instructionscan be configured by a rule editor.

In one embodiment, the dispatching server 14 incorporates an alarmforwarding system 16 that separates the alarm communication from theactual means of communication and forwards alarm information tomonitor/controlling systems 18 according to rules, algorithms orinstructions. The alarm forwarding system 16 assesses data messagesproduced by the pump 12 that are passed from the pump 12 to the alarmforwarding system 16 by the dispatching system 14 and fires a trigger ifcertain conditions established by a first set of rules, algorithms orinstructions are met. The firing of a trigger produces an alarm messagethat is assessed according to a second set of rules, algorithms orinstructions as to whether to suppress the alarm message. An example ofa dispatching server 14 is a server equipped with the Hospira MedNet™medication management software manufactured and sold by Hospira, Inc. ofLake Forest, Ill. The dispatching server can be used in combination witha hospital's existing alarm forwarding system or can be used incombination with a hospital's alarm forwarding system that has beenmodified to interface with the alarm messages received from dispatchingserver 14. In a preferred embodiment of the patient care system 10, thedispatching system 14 and alarm forwarding system 16 are separatesystems that are connected together, for example, by a local areanetwork (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), whether wireless, hardwired orconnected by optical fibers, or any other communication protocol orsystem. However, the dispatching system 14 and alarm forwarding system16 can be combined into a single system that performs the functions ofthe dispatching system 14 and alarm forwarding system 16 as describedherein.

The patient care system 10, in a preferred embodiment, includes one ormore monitor/controlling systems 18 connected to the dispatching system14. The function of the monitor/controlling system 18 is to connect tothe dispatching system 14, receive alarms and data from the dispatchingsystem 14, communicate such alarms and data to a clinician and, in someembodiments, allow a clinician to produce a response to such alarms anddata and otherwise produce acknowledgment or control responses andcommunicate such responses and acknowledgments to the dispatching system14. The monitor/controlling system 18 preferably expresses an alarm uponreceipt by the monitor/controlling system 18 of an alarm notification.The alarm can take various forms, including but not limited to anaudible, visual, or vibratory alarm. The list of possiblemonitor/controlling systems 18 includes, but is not limited to, mobilewireless devices, network connected workstations, laptop computers,tablets, electronic mail, text messages, pagers and even fax machines

In an embodiment of the patient care system 10, medical device 12forwards a data message to dispatching system 14, and dispatching system14 accesses the data message to determine if an alarm condition is metand if an escalated alarm should be suppressed. For example, a localalarm at the medical device 12 could be temporarily suppressed while analarm is sent to a remote monitor/controlling system 18. The content ofthe data message could be a required input for the evaluation of bothwhether or not an alarm condition is met, and if the escalated alarmshould be suppressed. As mentioned above, the data message could containinformation regarding pump therapy status data, pump operating pointdata, or both pump therapy status data and pump operating point data. Ifan alarm condition is met, dispatching system 14 could cause alarmforwarding system 16 to forward an alarm message to one or moremonitor/control systems 18. As a result, the monitor/controlling system18 does not sound the alarm at the monitor/controlling system 18 exceptunder certain predetermined conditions. Further, the medical device 12itself may not sound an alarm except according to certain predeterminedconditions.

FIG. 2 shows an alarm condition being sent to the nurse and pharmacistto aid in their workflow (e.g., the nurse will pick up the next packageof medication from the pharmacist and the pharmacist is informed thatthe infusion is nearing completion, which is the cue to prepare for thenurse to come and get the next package of medication for infusion). Ascan be seen in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, pump 12 is incommunication with the dispatching system 14 so that pump 12 sendsstatus data about pump 12 to the dispatching system 14. Such status dataincludes, but is not limited to, patient biometric, physiological ormedical parameter information, the location of pump 12 and the type andamount of medication administered by the pump 12. In addition, pump 12sends event data to the dispatching system 14. Such event data includes,but is not limited to, information indicating that the infusion isnearing completion. Further, pump 12 sends alarm data to the dispatchingsystem 14. Alarm data, as used in this specification, means allnotifications that can benefit physicians, clinical staff or patients inhandling the operation and safety of the pump 12.

Although the patient care system 10 described herein interacts with oneor more pumps 12, the pumps 12 are not required to be part of thepatient care system 10. However, as described hereafter, various aspectsof the functionality of the patient care system 10 may be shared withthe pump 12 so that in some embodiments the pump 12 may be part of thepatient care system 10.

Besides receiving data from a pump 12, the dispatching system 14 mayalso send programming data to the pump 12. Such programming data mayreconfigure the parameters and operation of the pump 12 with respect toboth infusing of medication by the pump 12 and the type, amount andfrequency of data gathered by the pump 12 and sent to the dispatchingsystem 14. Further, dispatching system 14 may also send drug librarydata to the pump 12 which may then be used by pump 12 to configurelimits and infuser settings to be used in the infusion of medication tothe patient. In addition, the dispatching system 14 may send softwareupdates to the pump 12 so that pump 12 has the most current software forits operations.

Dispatching system 14 interacts with alarm forwarding system 16 toforward alarms generated by the dispatching system 14 according to theappropriate recipient according to rules, algorithms or instructions.These rules, algorithms or instructions can, in part, be based on ortake into consideration the clinical care area (CCA), patientidentification, alarm priority, location of the pump 12 and the type ofdrug being infused by the pump 12. The rules, algorithms or instructionscan be fixed and predetermined or can be customizable by the hospital orhealthcare facility according to their own preferred practice or otherpractices recommended by others. An example of an appropriate recipientis the nurse who is caring for a patient that is receiving therapy froma pump 12. Further, where the alarms are sent to appropriate recipients,who that recipient is or the location where the alarm was forwarded mayalso be indicated or displayed on the pump 12 itself.

Dispatching system 14 may also communicate data, raw or processed by thedispatching system 14, to a clinical system 24 through an interface 22.Interface 22 provides a connection between the dispatching system 14 anda clinical system 24. The clinical system 24 may be another network(separate or interconnected with the network of dispatching system 14)where such network communicates information to the appropriaterecipients such as the nurse having supervisory responsibility for thenurse caring for a patient that is receiving therapy from a pump 12, aphysician overseeing the care of the patient, a pharmacist preparingmedication for the patient or any combination of these or others havinga need to know the status of the infusion therapy being applied to apatient through a pump 12. Examples of the data that can be communicatedfrom the dispatching system 14 to and from the clinical system 24 viathe interface 22 and from the clinical system 24 to an appropriaterecipient includes, but is not limited to, the raw data produced by thepump 12 such as pump status data, pump event data and alarms associatedwith pump 12 or rules, results and data that has been processed by thedispatching system 14 or alarm forwarding system 16.

Further, the clinical system 24 allows appropriate personnel, such asthe physician overseeing the care of the patient, to interface with andultimately control or change the operation of the pump 12. For example,a physician through the clinical system 24 could modify the infusionparameters of the pump 12 by sending an infusion order to the clinicalsystem 24 that passes through the interface 22, dispatching system 14and ultimately to the pump 12. Further, new or modified programming datafor the pump 12 may be entered into the clinical system 24, passedthrough the interface 22 to the dispatching system 14 and ultimately tothe pump 12 where the current programming of pump 12 is either modifiedor replaced, preferably in an automated and/or remote manner.

Interface 22 likewise allows appropriate personnel to administer therules used to control alarm forwarding in the system via a rule editoravailable on monitor/control device 18 or clinical system 24. Theadministration interface would allow the hospital personnel to determinerules for what contents from a data message from pump 12 would cause analarm message to be generated. For example, an administrator coulddetermine that an alarm would be generated whenever a certain kind ofmedication was interrupted, even if only temporarily, while theinterruption of a different kind of medication did not generate an alarmunless the interruption was of a sufficient duration. The administrationinterface could also allow the hospital personnel to determine rules forwhat contents from a data message from pump 12 would control how and ifcertain alarm messages would be suppressed. For example, anadministrator could determine that an alarm message generated based on adata message regarding a life critical or otherwise high risk drug, suchas analgesics, sedatives or anticoagulants like Heparin for example,would not be suppressed at all, an alarm message generated based on adata message regarding a less critical drug could be locally suppressedat the device but could not be cleared remotely, and an alarm messagegenerated based on a data message regarding a non-critical drug could beboth locally suppressed at the device and cleared remotely.

An example of how information flows in patient care system 10 can bedescribed with references to FIG. 3. The main communication nodes inFIG. 3 include pump 12, dispatching system 14, alarm forwarding system16, alarm destinations or monitor/controlling systems 18, the patient,nurse, telemedicine personnel, and pharmacist. As can be seen, anexemplary alarm condition 23, “Nearing the End of Infusion,” iscommunicated from the pump 12 to the dispatching system 14. Thedispatching system 14, operating according to an algorithm 25 for thisalarm condition, sends the “Nearing the End of Infusion” alarm 23 to thealarm forwarding system 16, which broadcasts, according to its rules oralgorithms 25 to the monitor/controlling system 18 and clinical system24 through the interface 22 (FIG. 2). Alternatively or in addition, thedispatching system 14 can send the alarm 23 to the interface 22 where itis subsequently passed to the clinical system 24 where it passes to theappropriate personnel such as the nurse, pharmacist or physician. Inthis way, multiple alarm messages are sent in parallel to theappropriate personnel according to the operation of the algorithm 25operating on the dispatching system 14. Further, in a variant of thisembodiment, an initial alarm message may be forwarded from a recipientof such alarm message to another person not initially sent the alarmmessage in a so-called “serial forwarding” fashion. Further, to avoidthe same alarm being received by multiple devices at different times,which could give the mistaken impression that there are more alarms thanthere actual are, alarm messages can be synchronized when dispatched tomultiple recipients (e.g., various monitor/controlling systems 18 suchas a mobile tablet and a nurse station) so that the alarm messagesarrive at the same time.

The administration interface could also be used to control how certainalarm messages flowed in patient care system 10. For example, the rulesapplied to alarm messages by alarm forwarding system 16 could beconfigurable so that alarm messages pertaining to life critical drugswere forwarded to various monitor/controlling systems 18 in parallelwhile alarm messages pertaining to less critical drugs were forwarded toa single monitoring system 18 and serially forwarded to anothermonitoring system 18 only in the event that the alarm was notacknowledged.

As can also be seen, the dispatching system 14 may receive anacknowledgment message 27 from the appropriate personnel, in this case,the nurse. Upon receipt of an alarm message, the nurse may send anacknowledgment message acknowledging receipt of the alarm message. Onceagain, the rules, algorithms or instructions 25 operating on dispatchingsystem 14 for this alarm condition processes the acknowledgment anddetermines if additional action needs to be taken. For example, if anacknowledgment message is not received within a predetermined time, thealgorithm could instruct the pump 12 to issue a local alarm to alertthose caring for the patient in the vicinity of the patient of thisalarm condition. Of course, if the alarm condition is acknowledgedbefore the predetermined time has expired 29, no such local alarm may berequired as defined by the algorithm 25 and thus no local alarm willsound by pump 12.

In embodiments of patient care system 10 where an alarm condition hasbeen forwarded to the dispatching system 14, it is desirable, but notrequired, to indicate on the pump 12 that an alarm occurred and that ithas been forwarded. Further, in situations where the local alarm issuppressed, it is desirable, but not required, that the time remainingbefore the alarm sounds or is otherwise indicated locally on the pump 12be displayed so that the clinician located in the vicinity of pump 12may see and act upon this information appropriately.

Further, a desirable function of the patient care system 10 is thecapability to have confirmation that an alarm has been successfullydelivered. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the algorithm 25 running ondispatching system 14 could, if so defined, send a “successfullyforwarded” message 31 back to the pump 12 after alarm messages have beensent to the appropriate personnel by the dispatching system 14 asdescribed above. This “successfully forwarded” message 31 could beprocessed by the rules, algorithms or instructions 25 on dispatchingsystem 14, alarm forwarding system 16 or pump 12 software and rules,algorithms or instructions to take action as defined by such softwareand rules, algorithms or instructions. For example, beyond justdelivering such a “successfully forwarded” message 31 to the pump 12,the “successfully forwarded” message 31 may be displayed, including byactivation of an audible, visual or tactile messaging systems asdescribed herein to alert an appropriate caregiver of such receipt.

Each combination of alarm forwarding, acknowledgment, and particularkinds of suppression can be referred to as a suppression protocol. Forexample, the combination of suppressing a local auditory alarm untileither a set time has elapsed or an alarm forwarding confirmation oracknowledgment was received is a first suppression protocol, while thecombination of suppressing a remote alarm to a supervisor until either aset time has elapsed or a primary care giver cleared an alarm locally atthe medical device is a second suppression protocol. Various suppressionprotocols can be created by hospital personnel via use of the ruleseditor mentioned previously, which can in one embodiment be incorporatedinto the Hospira MedNet™ software. The various suppression protocols canfurther be selectively applied by the care system based on the contentof medical device data messages, alarm messages, and other informationavailable to the system. As such, particularly stringent suppressionprotocols can be applied to low priority alarms automatically while morelax suppression protocols are applied to higher priority alarms.

In all of the above situations in which the content of a data messagefrom pump 12 or the content of an alarm message were used to control themanner in which an alarm was generated, suppressed, or forwarded, theclinical care area (CCA) of the pump or medical device 12 can be usedadditionally or in the alternative as an input to a rule or can be usedto select which rule should to be applied. This functionality providessignificant benefits in that an alarm forwarding protocol or alarmsuppression protocol might be appropriate for a given medical situationin one CCA and not appropriate in another. For example, the temporaryinterruption of a basic saline drip may be a low priority alarm towardswhich a stringent suppression protocol is applied in one CCA while thesame medical event is a high priority in a level 4 NICU where theslightest divergence from a planned treatment can be more problematicfor the patient. The CCA can be received as an input for any of thesedeterminations by first being programmed into the medical device when itis deployed or provided in a drug library downloaded to the medicaldevice, and subsequently selected by the clinician on the device so thatthe selected CCA information is delivered as part of the data messagegenerated by the medical device 12. In the alternative, the CCA can bedetermined indirectly from the data message and/or alarm message byconducting a lookup operation on a database associated with a serverthat is in communication with a plurality of the medical devices in thehealthcare facility. For example, an ID number associated with a pumpcould be received in a data message and then applied to a database tolookup the CCA area in which the pump had last been deployed, programmedin, or heard from via the network.

FIG. 4 shows the operation of one possible function of the patient caresystem 10. In this function, the dispatching system 14 and alarmforwarding system 16 are shown as separate systems. But, as describedabove, it is intended to be within the scope of the invention that thedispatching system 14 and alarm forwarding system 16 be combined into asingle system or software module that performs the functions of thedispatching system 14 and alarm forwarding system 16 as describedherein. Further, as can be seen in FIG. 4, the medical pump 12 itselfmay operate according to certain algorithms and may itself perform someof the functionality of the dispatching system 14 and alarm forwardingsystem 16.

In this example, if an alarm condition occurs at 26, the pump 12generates an alarm condition message at 28. This alarm condition messageis sent from pump 12 to the dispatching system 14 where the alarmcondition message is evaluated at 30. The alarm condition messagepreferably includes information relevant to the alarm such as pump 12ID, the patient ID/name, location of pump 12 and type/concentration/nameof drug used. Pump 12 gets acknowledgement from the server of thedispatching system 14 that it received the alarm and acknowledgementfrom the forwarding system 16 and/or the alarm destination or recipiententity.

The evaluation at 30 occurs according to rules, algorithms orinstructions established in the dispatching system 14. If, at step 30,it is determined that the alarm condition received from pump 12 shouldbe passed to the alarm forwarding system 16 to be managed, the alarmcondition is passed to the alarm forwarding system 16 where it isreceived at step 32. Alarm forwarding system 16 then forwards the alarmcondition to the appropriate personnel via monitor/controlling systems18 according to the rules, algorithms or instructions established inalarm forwarding system 16 for that particular alarm condition. Alarmshave different priorities and repeat rates and require differentresponses. As a result, the rules, algorithms or instructionsestablished in alarm forwarding system 16 determine which alarms getpriority when one or more alarms are present at the same time as well asthe appropriate routing, timing and display of alarm information inalarm conflicts. Further, the rules, algorithms or instructionsestablished in alarm forwarding system 16 determine how, when and bywhom alarms may be cancelled or suppressed, particularly in alarmconflict situations.

The monitor/controlling system 18 to which the alarm forwarding system16 forwards the alarm condition may be any of a number of devices suchas a pager, mobile phone, wireless device, tablet, workstation, email orany other form of communication that is able to communicate with thealarm forwarding system 16 and communicate information to theappropriate personnel. In the embodiment shown, the dispatching system14 itself evaluates, according to rules, algorithms or instructionsestablished in the dispatching system 14, whether the alarm conditionreceived from pump 12 should be passed to the alarm forwarding system 16to be managed. In an alternate embodiment, the dispatching system 14contains no such evaluation system but instead passes the alarm messagedirectly to the alarm forwarding system 16.

Upon receipt of an alarm condition message by the alarm forwardingsystem 16 at 32, in the embodiment shown, the program passes to step 34where it is determined whether the alarm forwarding system 16 isconfigured to send a “successfully received” acknowledgment of the alarmcondition message. If the alarm forwarding system 16 is so configured,the program passes from step 34 to step 36 where a “successfullyreceived” acknowledgment message is generated and sent from the alarmforwarding system 16 to the dispatching system 14.

The “successfully received” message sent from alarm forwarding system 16is received at the dispatching system 14 at step 38. Step 38 determineswhether the alarm condition message originally generated by pump 12 andpassed to dispatching system 14 was successfully forwarded to the alarmforwarding system 16. If, according to the logical operations of thisstep 38, the alarm condition message was not received by the alarmforwarding system 16, the program passes to step 40 where an escalationscheme is entered. The escalation scheme includes a determination, byrules, algorithms or instructions, of the appropriate response when analarm condition message has not been acknowledged. Examples of such anappropriate response could be resending the alarm condition message,sending the alarm condition message to another monitor/controllingsystem 18, triggering a local display of the alarm condition on the pump12, causing the display of an alarm alert condition at some otherdevice, or any other appropriate response as determined by those havingcare of the patient and which have been programmed into the rules,algorithms or instructions operating on the dispatching system 14.

If the alarm condition message generated by pump 12 was ultimatelyreceived by the alarm forwarding system 16, then at step 38 aconfirmation message is automatically sent to both steps 42 and 44 whichare processed on the pump 12 by the operation of the logic 52 asexplained above. At step 42, whether the alarm condition message wassuccessfully forwarded to alarm forwarding system 16 is evaluated. Ifthe alarm condition message was not successfully forwarded to the alarmforwarding system 16, the program passes to step 46 where a local alarmis visually displayed. If however, it is ascertained at step 42 that thealarm condition was successfully received by the alarm forwarding system16, the program passes to step 48 where no local alarm is displayed bypump 12.

In this embodiment, pump 12 includes a local delay timer 50 as describedabove. Such a local delay timer 50 is activated when an alarm conditionmessage is sent at step 28 by the pump 12 to the dispatching system 14.As mentioned, at step 38 the dispatching system 14 determines whetherthe alarm condition message generated by pump 12 was received by thealarm forwarding system 16. If the alarm condition message wasultimately received by the alarm forwarding system 16, the program alsopasses to step 44. Step 44 determines whether to cause the local delaytimer 50 to cease. This determination at step 44 occurs according torules, algorithms or instructions. In particular, this determinationpreferably takes into consideration whether an acknowledgment of receiptof an alarm message 54 has been sent by medical personnel at 58 andultimately passed through steps 60 and 62 to step 54 where anacknowledgment message is sent from step 54 to step 44. Logic 52 (FIG. 1or general arrow in FIG. 4) within pump 12 is set up to send a localalarm message if the local delay timer 50 (FIG. 1) exceeds its allottedtime and preferably under the rules, algorithms and rules governing step44, where no acknowledgment of an alarm condition message is receivedfrom the dispatching system 14 via step 54. However, upon receipt of anacknowledgement of an alarm condition message from the dispatchingsystem 14 at 54, the local delay timer 50 ceases counting and no localalarm message is generated. The length of the delay set in the localdelay timer 50 can be set, for example, according to the priority of thetype of alarm 28 generated or the type/concentration/name of drug beinginfused by the pump 12. Further, if receipt of an acknowledgement of analarm condition message arrives from step 54 after the timeout of thelocal delay timer 50, and as a result a local alarm has already started,according to rules, algorithms or instructions, the patient care system10 can stop the local alarm, restart the local delay timer 50 or both.

Receipt at the monitor/controlling system 18 of an alarm conditioncauses the monitor/controlling system 18 to display the alarm conditionat 56. This display may take the form of visual, audible or tactiledisplays. For example, the display may cause an audible alarm to soundindicating to the clinician the receipt of an alarm condition message.Further, the display may, on a viewing screen, display informationrelated to the alarm condition message. In addition, the display mayinclude activation of a visual indicator of the receipt of an alarmcondition message such as a flashing light. Finally, the display maytake the form of a tactile display such as a vibrating device indicatingto the clinician the receipt of an alarm condition message. This list ofpossible displays is intended to illustrate possible displays orindications that a monitor/controlling system 18 may use. However, it isto be understood that this list is illustrative and not intended to belimiting. As a result, it is intended that any type of display thatattracts the attention of the clinician to the receipt of an alarmcondition message or displays or otherwise communicates the contents ofan alarm condition message is intended to be within the scope of thepresent patient care system 10.

Upon receipt of an alarm condition message by a monitor/controllingsystem 18, the clinician may send an “acknowledgment of receipt” messageback to the dispatching system 14 if their destination device permitstwo-way communication. Generating and sending such an acknowledgmentmessage occurs at the monitor/controlling system 18 at 58. Theacknowledgment receipt message is sent from the monitor/controllingsystem 18 to the alarm forwarding system 16 at 60 where theacknowledgment of the receipt of the alarm condition message is passedto the dispatching system 14 at 62. Step 62 determines whether the alarmmessage 28 previously sent from the dispatching system 14 has beenacknowledged. If it has not, the program passes to 40 where anescalation scheme is determined according to rules, algorithms orinstructions.

If, at step 62, it has been determined that an alarm conditionacknowledgment message has been received, the program passes to step 54where acknowledgment message is sent from the dispatching system 14 tothe pump 12 at 44. This alarm condition 28 is evaluated at 64 todetermine, according to rules, algorithms or instructions, if this alarmcondition requires the display of a local alarm on pump 12. Whether suchan alarm condition 28 requires the display of a local alarm on pump 12is determined according to certain rules, algorithms or instructionsthat have been programmed into the pump 12. If the alarm condition 28requires that a local alarm be displayed on pump 12, such an alarm isdisplayed at 46. If the alarm condition 28 does not require that a localalarm be displayed, the program advances to 42 where it is evaluatedwhether the alarm condition was successfully forwarded to appropriatepersonnel through the dispatching system 14 and alarm forwarding system16.

The creation of an alarm condition at 26, in addition to the sending ofan alarm condition message at step 28, also causes the program operatingaccording to the logic 52 on pump 12 to move to step 66 where it isdetermined, according to rules, algorithms or instructions, whether pump12 is configured to suppress the local alarm audio alarm. Determiningwhether pump 12 is configured to express the local alarm audio alarm isdone according to rules, algorithms or instructions programmed on thepump 12.

If, at step 66, it is determined, according to rules, algorithms orinstructions, that the pump 12 is configured to suppress the local audioalarm, the program advances to step 68 where it is evaluated whether todelay or suppress the local audio alarm based on its rules, algorithmsor instructions including, but not limited to, reference to the currentstage of the local delay timer 50. If, at step 68, it is determined thatthe local audio alarm should be suppressed, the program passes to step70. Step 70 determines whether the local delay timer 50 has exhaustedits predetermined delay time and the alarm condition still persists. Ifthe local delay timer 50 has exhausted its local delay time and thealarm condition still persists, the program passes to step 72 where pump12 provides a local audio alarm even though the alarm had previouslybeen determined to be suppressed. The reason the alarm suppression isoverridden in this embodiment is that the failure to receive anacknowledgment of receipt of an alarm notice, as evidenced by the localdelay time 50 timing out, has been determined, according to rules,algorithms or instructions, to require an alarm to be generated. Also,according to rules, algorithms or instructions, the alarm can begenerated immediately or can be generated after taking further action(e.g., resending the alarm message to see if an acknowledgment orreceipt of the alarm message returns). If at step 66 it is determinedthat pump 12 is not configured to suppress a local audio alarmindication, the program passes to step 72 where pump 12 provides a localaudio alarm. Either or both a local audio or visual alarm can beproduced at 46 and 72.

Although embodiments of the patient care system 10 discussed above hadthe alarm forwarding system 16 sending a “successfully received”acknowledgment of the alarm condition message, this is not required forthe patient care system 10. Further, although those embodiments of thepatient care system 10 had an escalation scheme 40, that also is notrequired for the patient care system 10. Similarly, various explicitacts, evaluations, messages sent or suppressed, alarms activated orsuppressed and similar aspect of the embodiment described above and withrespect to other embodiments shown may be eliminated or added in a widevariety of permutations and combinations and still fall within the scopeof the invention. Patient care system 10 allows for the management ofalarms in all varieties of the term “management.” The various aspects of“managing” alarms given in this description are intended to beillustrative and not limiting.

FIG. 5 indicates the interrelationship between an administrator, such asan information technology (IT) specialist, a biomedical engineer, or anurse or other clinician with responsibility for care of a patient, withthe pump 12 through dispatching system 14, alarm forwarding system 16,and monitor/controlling system 18. Where the administrator desires toconfigure the pump 12 at 74, the administrator sends a command throughthe monitor/controller system 18 at 76.

Where an administrator desires to reconfigure a pump 12, themonitor/controller system 18 “pings” the alarm forwarding system 16 at78 to determine which pumps 12 are available for configuration. Thealarm forwarding system 16 then “pings” the dispatching system 14 at 80to determine which pumps 12 are available for configuration. The pumps12 in communication with dispatching system 14 send their identificationinformation and data to dispatching system 14 at 82. This can be a nearreal time push of data from the pumps 12 to the dispatching system 14 orthe data can be pulled in response to a request or “ping” of the pumpsby the dispatching system 14. Dispatching system 14 then sendsinformation about the available pumps 12 to the alarm forwarding system16 at 84 where such information is sent to the monitor/controller system18 at 86 where the monitor/controller 18 displays the relevantinformation about this particular pump 12 including the current statusof the pump and the range of available options for reconfiguration. Bymonitor/controlling system 18 displaying this information, theinformation is made available to the administrator.

Once the administrator has determined which pumps 12 are available forconfiguration, the administrator selects the pump 12 to be configured at88. The administrator makes the desired selection on themonitor/controller system 18 which then displays the newly configuredsettings about this particular pump 12 at 90. Once the administrator hasentered the particular parameters for configuration of the desired pump12 on the monitor/controlling system 18, the monitor/controller system18 passes this information to the alarm forwarding system 16 at 92 whichsends the information to the dispatching system 14 at 93 where theparameters configuration are sent to the selected pump 12 by thedispatching system 14 where they are received by the pump 12 at 94 andimplemented on the pump 12 at 95.

A similar process is employed for the administrator to configure thedispatching system 14, alarm forwarding system 16 or themonitor/controller system 18 itself. If the monitor/controller system 18itself is to be configured, the configuration can take place directly byentering the new configurations on the monitor/controlling system 18.However, it may be desirable to alert others through the dispatchingsystem 14 or clinical system 24 of such configuration changes. In thatcase, the monitor/controller system 18 sends the configurationinformation to the alarm forwarding system 16 which sends thisinformation to the dispatching system 14 which then sends theinformation, according to rules, algorithms or instructions on thedispatching system 14, to the appropriate locations.

Where the alarm forwarding system 16 is to receive new configurations,configurable aspects of the alarm forwarding system 16 are displayed onthe monitor/controller system 18. The desired configurations for thealarm forwarding system 16 are entered into the monitor/controllingsystem 18 which then sends the new configurations to the alarmforwarding system 16 to be implemented. Again, it may be desirable toalert others through the dispatching system 14 or clinical system 24 ofsuch configuration changes. In that case, the alarm forwarding system 16sends the configuration information to the dispatching system 14 whichthen sends the information, according to rules, algorithms orinstructions on the dispatching system 14, to the appropriate locations.

Where the dispatching system 14 is to receive new configurations,configurable aspects of the dispatching system 14 and alarm forwardingsystem 16 are received from the dispatching system 14, passed throughthe alarm forwarding system and displayed on the monitor/controllersystem 18. The desired configurations for the dispatching system 14 areentered into the monitor/controlling system 18 which then sends the newconfigurations to be implemented by the dispatching system 14. Again, itmay be desirable to alert others through the dispatching system 14 orclinical system 24 of such configuration changes. In that case, thedispatching system 14 sends the information, according to rules,algorithms or instructions on the dispatching system 14, to theappropriate locations.

In this embodiment, the interface 22 and clinical system 24 are notexplicitly shown. However, the interface 22 and clinical system 24 maybe incorporated into a monitor/controller system 18. However, it is tobe understood that interface 22 and clinical system 24 may be separateand independent systems or that the functions of interface 22 andclinical system 24, in whole or in part, may be performed by thedispatching system 14, alarm forwarding system 16 or monitor/controllingsystem 18. Further, it is within the scope of the patient care system 10that the function or elements or both of the dispatching system 14,alarm forwarding system 16, interface 22, clinical system 14 andmonitor/controlling system 18 be combined in any permutation orcombination of such functions or elements including into a singlesystem.

The operation of the patient care system 10 with respect to the alarmforwarding function is shown in FIG. 6. When an alarm condition occursat 26, pump 12 determines at 96 whether pump 12 is connected to thedispatching system 14. If pump 12 is not connected to the dispatchingsystem 14, the program passes to step 98 where the pump displays avisual or audible alarm or both on pump 12 indicating that pump 12 isnot connected to the dispatching system 14. If, at step 96, it isdetermined that the pump 12 is connected to the dispatching system 14,the program passes to step 100. At step 100, pump 12 sends an alarmcondition notice to the dispatching system 14 where the dispatchingsystem 14 receives the alarm condition notice at 102. In addition tosending an alarm condition notice to the dispatching system 14, theprogram passes from step 100 to step 104 where it is determined whetherthe pump 12 is configured to display a local alarm condition indicatingthat pump 12 is not connected to the dispatching system 14. If pump 12is configured to display such a local alarm notice, the program passesto step 106 where such an alarm condition is displayed or otherwiseindicated. If pump 12 is not configured to display such an alarm notice,the program passes to step 108 where action occurs, as will be discussedhereafter.

As mentioned above, when an alarm condition is generated at 26 and thepump 12 is connected to the dispatching system 14, an alarm conditionmessage is sent at step 100 to the dispatching system 14 where it isreceived at step 102. At step 102, the alarm condition message isevaluated according to the rules, algorithms or instructions thatdetermine whether the alarm condition message should be forwarded to thealarm forwarding system 16 or the monitor/controller system 18 or both.If, at step 102, it is determined that the alarm condition messageshould not be forwarded to either the alarm forwarding system 16 ormonitor/controller system 18, the program passes to step 98 where thepump 12 will display or generate an alarm on the pump 12.

If, at step 102, it is determined that the alarm condition messageshould be forwarded to either the alarm forwarding system 16 ormonitor/controller system 18, the program passes to step 110 in thealarm forwarding system 16. At step 110, the program determines,according to rules, algorithms or instructions, whether the alarmcondition should be routed to a recipient and if so, which recipient. Ifit is determined that the alarm condition notice should be forwarded toa recipient, the program passes from step 110 in the alarm forwardingsystem 16 to step 112 in the monitor/controller system 18.

In order for the program to reach step 110, an alarm condition messagemust have been received by the alarm forwarding system 16. Consequently,at step 110, the program passes to step 114 where it is determinedwhether the alarm forwarding system 16 is configured to sendacknowledgment of a successful receipt of an alarm notice message. Ifthe alarm forwarding system 16 is not configured to send such anacknowledgment, the program passes to 116 were no further action istaken. However, if the alarm forwarding system 16 is configured to sendsuch an acknowledgement, the program passes to step 118 where suchacknowledgment is generated by the alarm forwarding system 16 and sentto the dispatching system 14 to be received at step 120. If, at step120, it is determined that the alarm condition message was successfullyreceived by the alarm forwarding system 16, the program passes to step108 in the pump 12.

If, at step 108, it is determined that the alarm condition messagegenerated at step 100 was not received by the alarm forwarding system16, the program passes to step 106 where an alarm condition indicatingthat the alarm condition message was not received by the alarmforwarding system 16 is displayed on the pump 12. If however, at step108, it is determined that the alarm condition message generated step100 was successfully received by the alarm forwarding system 16, theprogram passes to step 122 where no alarm is displayed locally on pump12.

If, at step 120, it is determined that the alarm condition messagereceived from pump 12 by the dispatching system 14 at step 102 has notbeen successfully forwarded to the alarm forwarding system 16, theprogram passes to an escalation scheme 40 where the appropriate level ofescalation is determined according to rules, algorithms or instructionsas discussed above. Also at step 120, if it is been determined that thealarm condition message generated by pump 12 and received by dispatchingsystem 14 has also been successfully received by the alarm forwardingsystem 16, the program also passes to step 44 where the local delaytimer 50 is canceled and no alarm message is generated.

If, in the monitor/controller system 18 at step 112, an alarm conditionindication is indicated on a monitor/controlling system 18, the programpasses to step 124 where the recipient of the alarm condition message isgiven the opportunity to acknowledge receipt of the alarm conditionmessage. If the recipient chooses to generate an acknowledgment of thereceipt of such a message, the program passes to step 126 in the alarmforwarding system 16 where the acknowledgement is passed to step 128 inthe dispatching system 14. Step 128 ascertains whether the recipient hasacknowledged receipt of the alarm condition message sent by pump 12. Ifthe answer is yes, the program passes to step 130 where acknowledgmentto send from the dispatching system 14 to step 44 where the local delaytimer 50 is canceled and no alarm message is thus generated.

If an alarm condition indication is sent to a monitor/controlling system18 at step 112, the program passes to step 132 where, according torules, algorithms or instructions, it is ascertained whether the alarmcondition is capable of remote clearing. If the alarm condition is notcapable of remote clearing, the program passes to step 134 where nofurther action is taken. However, if the alarm condition is capable ofremote clearing, the program passes to step 136 where the alarm may becleared on the monitor/controlling system 18 by a qualified clinician.

The program then passes to step 138 in the alarm forwarding system 16.Step 138 passes the alarm clearing message to step 140 of thedispatching system 14 which passes the alarm clearing message to pump 12at step 142. At step 142, the pump alarm is cleared on pump 12. If thepump alarm is cleared at step 142 on pump 12, the program passes to step144 of the dispatching system 14. At step 144 the dispatching system 14is notified that the alarm condition message previously generated bypump 12 at step 100 has been cleared remotely. The program then passesto step 146 on the alarm forwarding system 16 where a local alarmnotification is sent to the appropriate recipients as determined by therules, algorithms or instructions running on alarm forming system 16.Further, the program passes to step 148 in the monitor/controller system18 where a local alarm condition is indicated on the appropriatemonitor/controlling systems 18 indicating that an alarm condition noticehas been cleared.

The program then passes to step 150 where it is determined whether thealarm condition has been resolved. If the alarm condition has beenresolved, the program passes to step 152 on pump 12 where the alarm onpump 12 is cleared. If the program determined at step 150 that the alarmcondition is not been resolved, the program passes to step 40 where anescalation scheme is entered into so that the appropriate action,according to the rules, algorithms or instructions previouslydetermined, can be taken to resolve the alarm condition issue. At step144, the program also passes to step 72 where, as described above, ifthe pump 12 is not configured to suppress a local edible alarm, pump 12will provide a local audible alarm.

When an alarm gets cleared, either manually by a clinician orautomatically according to the rules, algorithms or instructions runningon the patient care system 10, a “clearing alarm message” may be sent toall the entities that received the original alarm.

Such clearing alarm message may indicate how the alarm was cleared,when, and by whom and may include an indication of what the originalalarm was, its timestamp and how the alarm was resolved. Further,although the alarm has been shown as being cleared in certain locations,the alarm may be cleared from wherever a clinician has access to thepatient care system 10, whether at the pump 12, dispatching system 14,alarm forwarding system 16, clinical system server 24 ormonitor/controlling system 18. It may be desirable to explicitlyindicate or highlight on the pump 12 itself that the clearing took placeremotely in order to alert the nearby attending personnel of the sourceof the clearing. In addition, if the alarm is locally cleared before itwas cleared remotely, the dispatching system server 14 will receivenotice of this occurrence and forward such notice to the remoterecipients.

Further, it is desirable if the alarm is cleared remotely but notlocally, that the local delay timer described above be employed tore-start the alarm sequence described herein after the expiration of apredetermined time in case a clinician clears the alarm remotely butforgets to check on the pump 12 and clear the alarm locally on the pump.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of the patient care system 10 where theinfusion program operating on pump 12 is modified or replaced by anoperator. In this embodiment of the patient care system 10, the pump 12must be connected to the dispatching system 14 in order to be controlledby the monitor/controller system 18 as will be described hereafter.Further, the pump 12 must have an appropriate drug library with settingsselected or configured by the manufacturer or more preferably thehealthcare facility that allow the infusion program to be modified orreplaced remotely from a monitor/controlling system for alarm managementpurposes. The drug library must be stored on the pump or otherwise beaccessible to the pump 12. In this embodiment, an appropriate orauthorized person, for example a nurse providing care to a patient, ontheir respective monitor/controller system 18 selects some aspect of theoperation of the pump 12 with respect to the patient. For example, asshown in FIG. 7, at step 154, the clinician could select the infusiontitrate. Consequently, at 156 the clinician accesses a programmingscreen on the monitor/controller 18. The clinician, at step 158, thenenters the desired programming information on the programming screen ofthe monitor/controlling system 18. Thereafter, the process passes tostep 160 where the clinician confirms the program information. Theprocess then passes to step 162 where the monitor/controller system 18sends the new program information to the alarm forwarding system 16where it is received at step 164. At step 164, the alarm forwardingsystem sends the programming instructions to the dispatching system 14where it is received at step 166. At step 166, the dispatching system 14sends the program instructions to the infusion pump 12 where it isreceived and incorporated into the pump 12 at step 168. The pump 12 mayact on the new or modified program instructions immediately as shown inFIG. 7 or may proceed in a delayed manner after local or remoteconfirmation.

As can be seen in the description of the patient care system 10, thereare certain steps that are performed as part of the logic, whethersoftware or by discrete logic on the various components of the patientcare system 10 and pump 12. But, there are also certain steps that areperformed by the clinician that are not part of or performed by suchlogic. Where a process involving the patient care system 10 involvessteps performed by the clinician but that are not performed by thepatient care system 10, whether in embodiments including the pump 12 ormonitor/controller 18, the process steps performed by the clinician arenot part of the patient care system 10.

Also as shown in FIG. 7, at 169 pump 12 sends confirmation to thedispatching system 14 that infusion by the pump 12 to the patient hasstarted. The dispatching system 14 at 170 receives confirmation that theinfusion by pump 12 was started and passes this information to the alarmforwarding system 16 at 172. At step 172, the alarm forwarding system 16sends confirmation that the pump 12 has started infusion to themonitor/controller 18 at 174. At step 174, the monitor/controller system18 displays a confirmation that the infusion by the pump 12 has started.At step 174, the monitor/controller system 18 displays that the infusionhas started by the pump 12. This confirmation is also sent from themonitor/controller 18 to the dispatching system 14 at step 176 (via thealarm forwarding system 16). At step 176 the dispatching system 14ascertains whether the infusion started by pump 12 is the desiredinfusion as programmed by the monitor/controller 18. If the infusion isnot correct, the dispatching system 14 passes to step 40 where anescalation scheme is entered into and action taken according to therules, algorithms or instructions set up in the escalation scheme.

Another management function of the patient care system 10 is shown inFIG. 8. In this function, a clinician transfers responsibility for oneor more pumps 12 to another clinician. To access this functionality,both the clinician doing the transferring and the clinician receivingthe transfer of responsibility for the pumps 12 must have appropriateaccess to the dispatching system 14 and alarm forwarding system 16, forexample, through each clinician's respective monitor/controlling systems18 with their appropriate interfaces. By accessing themonitor/controller system 18, at 178 the clinician selects a list ofpumps 12 to be transferred. The process passes to step 180 where theclinician selects the monitor/controlling system 18 to which theresponsibility for the pumps 12 will be transferred.

The process passes to step 182 where the monitor/controller 18 for theperson passing responsibility for the pumps 12 then transfers the listof selected pumps 12 to the monitor/controlling system 18 of the personreceiving responsibility for the pumps 12 via the alarm forwardingsystem 16 where this information is received at 184. At step 184, thealarm forwarding system 16 pushes the list of selected pumps to theselected monitor/controller 18 receiving responsibility for the pumps 12at 186. At 186, the respective monitor/controlling system 18 displaysthe transferred list of pumps 12 and ask for confirmation of thetransfer. The clinician associated with the new responsibility for thepumps 12 then, on their monitor/controlling system 18, accepts the pumplist transfer at 188. Also, as a result of the clinician accepting thepump 12 transfer list, the monitor/controller 18 of that clinician thendisplays the list of newly acquired pumps 12 at 190.

A monitor infusion function of the patient care system 10 is displayedin FIG. 9. Pump 12 is configured to interact with the dispatching system14. At 192, pump 12 sends non-alarm status information to thedispatching system 14 where it is received at 194. Examples of suchnon-alarm status information include, but are not limited to, themedication being delivered, the dose, rate, volume to be infused (VTBI)and duration of infusion. Step 194 forwards the non-alarm statusinformation from pump 12 to the alarm forwarding system 16 where it isreceived at 196. Step 196 then routes the pump 12 non-alarm statusinformation to the appropriate recipient or recipients as configured byrules, algorithms or instructions operating on the alarm forwardingsystem 16. Each recipient of the pump 12 non-alarm status informationreceives this status information at step 198 on their respectivemonitor/controller system 18. As a result, the monitor/controller system18 displays the non-alarm status information from pump 12 so that theclinician can be apprised of such status. If a particular clinician'smonitor/controlling system 18 is monitoring more than one pump 12, itcan be set to select and display individual information about each pump12. At step 200, the clinician selects a pump 12 to view that pump 12'snon-alarm status details. As a result of selecting a particular pump 12to monitor, the monitor/controller system 18 at 202 displays thenon-alarm infusion status information for that pump 12.

The patient care system 10 may also include functionality that affectsthe duration that certain information is displayed on themonitor/controller system 18. An example of such functionality is shownin FIG. 9. From 202, the program may pass to step 204 which is a timerthat times the amount of inactivity associated with the clinician'sinteraction with the monitor/controller system 18. If a sufficientlylong amount of time elapses according to rules, algorithms orinstructions without the clinician interacting with themonitor/controller system 18 (e.g., 10 seconds), the program passes tostep 206 where the monitor/controlling system 18 closes the detailedview of the non-alarm status information provided by a particular pump12. Of course, the amount of time that must pass before activating thisclosing of the detailed view can vary and may be selectable by theclinician to suit the clinician's preference or may be preset accordingto certain safety protocols. Further, this functionality includes, inaddition to the length of time certain information is displayed, alsodetermining what information is displayed and for both, may take intoconsideration who the clinician is, what the pump status is and thelocation of the clinician.

As a result of having transferred responsibility for one or more pumps12 to another monitor/controlling system 18, the clinician may cleartheir monitor/controlling system 18 of the transferred pumps 12. Ofcourse, the clinician must first have transferred responsibility for thepumps 12 as is done at step 208 where the process described above issummarized into a single step 208. Thereafter, the program passes to 210where the clinician clears the pumps 12 that have been transferred. Theprogram then passes to step 212 where the monitor/controlling system 18clears the previously monitored pumps 12 which have now been transferredto another clinician.

FIG. 10 shows examples of the monitor/controlling system 18.Monitor/controlling system 18 may be a mobile phone, laptop computer,tablet or any other mobile device capable of interacting with the alarmforwarding system 16 and dispatching system 14, displaying informationand allowing information to be entered and sent to the alarm forwardingsystem 16 and dispatching system 14. As can be seen in part A of FIG.10, the status of devices being monitored located in several differentlocations (e.g., Bed 2, Bed 5 and Bed 7) can be displayed on a mainstatus screen 214. The information displayed on the screen is the nameof the pump 12 and the infusion status. Further as shown in part B ofFIG. 10, the details of the infusion taking place by any particular pump12 can be displayed once a pump 12 from the main status screen 214 isselected. For example, as can be seen in the example of part B of FIG.10, where pump 12 is indicated as “Infuser 1” that is located at “Bed2,” the status “Infusing” is indicated as well as the drug beinginfused, in this case “Dopamine.” Furthermore, the concentration ofdopamine is indicated (5 mg/100 ml) as well as the dose (5 ml/hr), rate(250 ml/hr) and VTBI (500 ml). A “patient” designation can of course besubstituted for a “bed” designation without departing from the scope ofthe invention.

As shown in part C of FIG. 10, an alarm state can also be shown on themonitor/controller system 18. In this case, the pump 12 indicated as“Infuser 3” located at “Bed 2” is reaching the end of its infusionprogram. As a result, an “End of Infusion” alarm message has beengenerated. One possible result of generating such an alarm message isthat the monitor/controlling system 18 itself may indicate the alarm. Inaddition to indicating the status of particular pumps 12 (here, “End ofInfusion”), the monitor/controlling system 18 may also activate avisual, audible or tactile alarm to alert the clinician of receipt ofthis alarm message.

Further, the order of display of the pumps 12 being monitored can bechanged to represent the priority of their respective statuses. Forexample, as shown in part C of FIG. 10, the pump 12 designated “Infuser3” at “Bed 2” is in a higher priority status than the other pumps 12 dueto the presence of an alarm message associated with this particular pump12. As a result, this pump 12 is listed higher on the display of themonitor/controlling system 18 than the other pumps 12 with lesserpriority status in order to draw attention to this pump 12's heightenedstatus.

Throughout this description, repeated mention has been made to “rules,algorithms or instructions.” These rules, algorithms or instructions canbe directed to virtually anything that is determined to be usefulincluding, but not limited to, promoting safety or improving efficacy,longevity or ease of use. In addition, where the clinician isconfiguring or reconfiguring a pump 12, these rules, algorithms orinstructions can include safeguards to warn clinicians if certainconfigurations are outside of accepted bounds or are dangerous so thatthe clinician may be required to confirm such configurations before theyare accepted by the patient care system 10. Further, where, when and towhom alarm messages may be forwarded or communicated to may take intoconsideration the staff available, clinical care area (CCA), therapybeing delivered, type of drug, condition of the patient, time of day,day of the week, whether there has been or is an alarm escalation scheme40 in effect to name but a few possible considerations.

The patient care system 10 described herein, in one or more of theembodiments disclosed, has advantages over current systems in increasedpatient safety and increased ease of use for the clinicians. Withrespect to increased patient safety, the patient care system 10 in oneor more embodiments increases patient safety by sounding an alarm whenthe alarm forwarding does not reach clinical personnel or they areunable to respond to or acknowledge the alarm in a timely manner. Inthis way, the possibility of a clinician missing or failing to respondto an alarm is decreased. The possibility of a clinician missing orfailing to respond to an alarm is also decreased, and thus patientsafety is increased, by creating alarm escalation procedures that helpmedical personnel back up each other in case an initial alarm is missedor failed to be responded to. Further, patient safety increases with oneor more embodiments of the patient care system 10 because reaction timeby medical personnel to adverse infusion events or pending adverseinfusion events is reduced. This reaction time is reduced by alertingmedical personnel to such adverse event or pending adverse event eventhough the medical personnel is physically distant from the pump 12.

Additionally, patient safety is increased in one or more embodiments ofthe patient care system 10 by creating a system of alarm evaluation anddispatch that operates according to rules, algorithms or instructions sothat alarm management logic is removed from the individual and variousmonitor/controller systems 18 and corresponding communication technologyand is instead governed and controlled by a reduced set (in some cases,a single set) of rules, algorithms and instructions operating on asmaller number of devices (in some cases, on a single dispatching system14).

Further, patient safety is increased in one or more embodiments of thepatient care system 10 by allowing medical personnel to program ormodify an infusion without exposing the patient to unnecessary contactor the requirement that the pump 12 be programmed at the pump 12 itself.Because the clinician does not need to be physically present or come incontact directly with the pump 12, the likelihood of contamination ofthe patient by the clinician is reduced. In addition, because theclinician does not need to be physically present or contact the pump 12directly, the likelihood of cross contamination by multiple cliniciansis reduced when multiple clinicians utilize the same infusion pump 12.In this way, the pump 12 is not contaminated by a clinician in the firstplace and even if the pump 12 were initially contaminated,cross-contamination is eliminated because subsequent clinicians do notneed to come in contact with or be in close proximity to the pump 12 tochange or modify programming on pump 12 or check the status of the pump12 or an infusion program running on pump 12. If necessary confirmationsor double checks of program values previously done at the pump 12 can bedone by the clinician on the monitor/controlling system 18.

In yet other embodiments of the patient care system 10, patient safetyincreases by reducing the chance of incorrect therapy delivery. Thechance of delivering an incorrect therapy is reduced because theclinician need only become familiar with a single interface(monitor/controlling system 18) instead of needing to gain familiaritywith the interfaces on a large number of devices which might be involvedin therapy delivery. Further, the chance of delivering an incorrecttherapy is reduced in one or more embodiments because there are checksbuilt into the rules, algorithms or instructions implemented on thepatient care system 10.

The patient care system 10 also increases ease of use for theclinicians. With respect to increasing ease of use, in one or moreembodiments of the patient care system 10, patient care system 10 allowsmedical personnel to clear alarms remotely instead of requiring thepersonnel to move to the pump 12 to clear the alarm. Further, in one ormore embodiments of the patient case system 10, ease of use for medicalpersonnel is increased by reducing the time necessary and the difficultyinvolved in modifying or updating programming and infusion programupdates. Besides producing a simplified process for modifying orupdating such programming, ease of use is increased by requiring theclinician to become familiar with only a single interface (e.g.,monitor/controlling system 18) instead of the interfaces for each devicethat might be involved in therapy delivery.

In addition, the patient care system 10, in one or more embodiments,increases ease of use for medical personnel by sending alarm messages tomedical personnel even when they are not in proximity of the device(i.e., they are outside of visual and acoustic range of the pump 12).Further, in one or more embodiments, information that is useful orneeded by the medical personnel about an alarm message such as the pump12 ID, pump 12 location, patient information, drug information, programinformation, etc. are provided with the alarm message to aid suchpersonnel in evaluating the alarm. As a result, medical personnel canhave greater range from their patients and still deliver safe andeffective therapy.

Another aspect of the patient care system 10 that increases ease of usefor medical personnel in one or more embodiments of the patient caresystem 10 is that alarm noise in the hospital is reduced, which isbeneficial—especially at night time. The reduction in alarm noise is dueto the processing of alarms according to rules, algorithms orinstructions to eliminate false or unnecessary alarms thereby producingfewer audible or visual alarms. Reducing the number of annoyingdistracting, false or unnecessary alarms benefits not only the medicalpersonnel but the patient and other nearby patients as well.

Not all of these advantages will be present in every embodiment of thepatient care system 10; some embodiments may have only one of theseadvantages while other embodiments will have more than one advantage andsome embodiments may have all of the advantages. The disclosure has beendirected to certain embodiments, combinations, configurations andrelative dimensions. It is to be understood, however, that thedescription given herein has been given for the purpose of explainingand illustrating the invention and are not intended to limit the scopeof the invention. It is to be further understood that changes andmodifications to the descriptions given herein will occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the scope of the invention should belimited only by the scope of the claims.

1. A patient care system comprising: at least one medical pump, eachmedical pump generating a data message containing a unit of informationregarding pump therapy status data, pump operating point data, or bothpump therapy status data and pump operating point data; an alarmgenerating system receiving the data message from the medical pump, thealarm generating system adapted to: assess the data message according toa first algorithm to fire a trigger if a condition is met; produce, ifthe trigger fires, an alarm message; and assess, if the trigger fires,the data message according to a second algorithm to suppress anescalated alarm; a dispatching system connected to the alarm generatingsystem, the dispatching system adapted to forward the alarm message toan alarm destination according to a third algorithm; and an alarmdestination connected to the dispatching system, the alarm destinationexpressing an alarm upon receipt by the alarm destination of the alarm;wherein the unit of information is a required input for both the firstand second algorithms.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: anadministration interface that provides an administrator of the patientcare system with access to a rule editor; wherein the rule editormodifies at least one of the first and third algorithms such that aclinical care area (CCA) of the medical pump is a determinative input.3. The system of claim 2, wherein the data message from the medical pumpcontains a second unit of information that includes the clinical carearea (CCA) of the medical pump.
 4. The system of claim 2, furthercomprising: a database that is accessible to the alarm generatingsystem; wherein: the data message from the medical pump contains an IDassociated with the medical pump; and the clinical care area (CCA) ofthe medical pump is derived from the database using the ID associatedwith the medical pump.
 5. The system of claim 1, further comprising: anadministration interface that provides an administrator of the patientcare system with access to a rule editor; wherein: the unit ofinformation regarding pump therapy information includes informationregarding a type of medication being infused by the medical pump; andthe rule editor modifies at least one of the first or third algorithmssuch that the type of medication being infused by the medical pump is adeterminative input.
 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising: anadministration interface that provides an administrator of the patientcare system with access to a rule editor; wherein the rule editormodifies a protocol by which the escalated alarm is suppressed.
 7. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein: the escalated alarm is an audible alarm atthe medical pump; and the protocol: (i) suppresses the escalated alarmfor a period of time; and (ii) clears the escalated alarm if an alarmclearance message is received by the alarm generating system from thealarm destination.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein: the rule editorallows the administrator to specify a second protocol by which theescalated alarm is suppressed; and the first or second protocol isapplied by the alarm generating system based on a type of medicationbeing infused by the medical pump.
 9. The system of claim 6, wherein:the rule editor allows the administrator to specify a second protocol bywhich the escalated alarm is suppressed; and the first or secondprotocol is selected and applied by the alarm generating system based ona clinical care area (CCA) in which the medical pump is located.
 10. Ina patient care system having: at least one medical pump generating adata message; an alarm generating system receiving the data message fromthe medical pump; a dispatching system connected to the alarm generatingsystem; and an alarm destination connected to the dispatching system,the alarm destination expressing an alarm upon receipt by the alarmdestination of an alarm message, a method of monitoring and controllingalarms in the patient care system comprising the steps of: assessing thedata message according to a first algorithm to fire a trigger if acondition is met; producing, if the trigger fires, an alarm message;assessing if the trigger fires, the data message according to a secondalgorithm to suppress an escalated alarm; and forwarding the alarmmessage to the alarm destination according to a third algorithm;wherein: the data message includes a unit of information regarding pumptherapy status data, pump operating point data, or both pump therapystatus data and pump operating point data; and the unit of informationis a required input for both the first and second algorithms.
 11. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein: the alarm message is forwarded by thedispatching system to a first alarm destination; and the escalated alarminvolves a second alarm forwarded by the dispatching system to a secondalarm destination.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein the method ofmonitoring and controlling alarms further comprises: receiving aresponse from the alarm destination to the alarm message; and clearingthe escalated alarm after receiving the response.
 13. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the response is chosen from a group consisting of: anacknowledgement that an alarm condition notice was received at the alarmdestination, a confirmation that the alarm message was successfullyforwarded to the alarm destination, a local alarm clearance input at themedical pump; a configuration input at the medical pump, a first change,in the dispatching system, to the first algorithm; and a second change,in the dispatching system, to the second algorithm.
 14. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the third algorithm maps the alarm message to a set ofdisparate alarm destinations based on the unit of information.
 15. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing acomputer as part of a patient care system to monitor and control alarmsin the patient care system, the patient care system having: at least onemedical pump generating a data message; an alarm generating systemreceiving the data message from the medical pump; a dispatching systemconnected to the alarm generating system; and an alarm destinationconnected to the dispatching system, the alarm destination expressing analarm upon receipt by the alarm destination of an alarm message, themonitor and control process comprising: assessing the data messageaccording to a first algorithm to fire a trigger if a condition is met;producing, if the trigger fires, an alarm message; assessing if thetrigger fires, the data message according to a second algorithm tosuppress an escalated alarm; and forwarding the alarm message to thealarm destination according to a third algorithm; wherein: the datamessage includes a unit of information regarding pump therapy statusdata, pump operating point data, or both pump therapy status data andpump operating point data; and the unit of information is a requiredinput for both the first and second algorithms.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 15, wherein: the alarm message isforwarded by the dispatching system to a first alarm destination; andthe escalated alarm involves a second alarm forwarded by the dispatchingsystem to a second alarm destination.
 17. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 15, wherein the monitor and control processfurther comprises: receiving a response from the alarm destination tothe alarm message; and clearing the escalated alarm after receiving theresponse.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17,wherein the response is chosen from a group consisting of: anacknowledgement that an alarm condition notice was received at the alarmdestination, a confirmation that the alarm message was successfullyforwarded to the alarm destination, a local alarm clearance input at themedical pump; a configuration input at the medical pump, a first change,in the dispatching system, to the first algorithm; and a second change,in the dispatching system, to the second algorithm.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the thirdalgorithm maps the alarm message to a set of disparate alarmdestinations based on the unit of information.